![\"Pidcock\"](\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2203333767.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCyclocross might be off the menu this winter, but Pidcock wants everything else he can get: ‘Tom wants to compete and win whenever he starts.’ \n<\/p>\n
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Updated October 9, 2025 08:58AM<\/p>\n
If any rider could be a favorite for a back-to-back road monument and gravel world championships, it\u2019s Tom Pidcock<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s exactly the scenario this weekend.<\/p>\n The all-terrain topper is taking on a wild\u2019n\u2019weird Il Lombardia<\/a>\u2013UCI gravel worlds<\/a> double in the quest to stretch a standout summer a few days further.<\/p>\n Speaking to Sporza<\/a>, Pidcock\u2019s long-time trainer and now Q36.5 Pro Cycling staffer Kurt Bogaerts said Pidcock wants it all.<\/p>\n And while he won\u2019t get it straight away, this weekend is a start point.<\/p>\n \u201cTom\u2019s third-place finish in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a has given him even more confidence for the grand tours. He also wants to continue scoring in the classics at the same time,\u201d Bogaerts said Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cHe aims to have the broadest possible list of achievements at the end of his career.\u201d<\/p>\n Bogaerts conceded Pidcock\u2019s chances are limited Saturday in his first run at Il Lombardia. But if Pidcock wants to win it all, he\u2019s got to start somewhere.<\/p>\n He was scheduled to ride \u201cThe Race of the Falling Leaves\u201d last year but became a DNS amid boiling tension with former team Ineos Grenadiers.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDue to circumstances, Tom was unable to participate last year,\u201d Bogerts said. \u201cBut it\u2019s important for Tom to ride Lombardy for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a race that should suit him well in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Pidcock\u2019s future ambitions blew beyond their already enormous proportions<\/a> this summer when he finished third at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a>. He found his best road legs yet and discovered that, after a few misfires, he could be a grand tour racer, after all.<\/p>\n But this is Pidcock.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly\u201d grand tour racing would be boring.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why he will join Remco Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro in attempting the unthinkable Saturday at Il Lombardia \u2013 stopping Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> from winning a fifth straight time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my first time racing Il Lombardia, so it\u2019s a new experience for me,\u201d Pidcock said. \u201cI haven\u2019t done many of these late-season races before, but I\u2019ve really enjoyed them this year, even if I\u2019m feeling a bit of fatigue from a long season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s obviously a very demanding race with lots of climbing, so it\u2019s going to be an attritional day.\u201d<\/p>\n For Pidcock, Saturday will be a learning opportunity \u2026 with a bonus chance at a monument podium.<\/p>\n Rainbow jersey no.3 at the UCI gravel worlds? A race that Pidcock could more likely win on debut?<\/p>\n The UCI Gravel World Championships.<\/p>\n But the 26-year-old\u2019s renewed commitment to developing as a roadie imperils his chance at winning a world title Sunday.<\/p>\n Racing Pogi, Remco, and El Torito for six hours in the hills of Lombardy isn\u2019t ideal the day before a 180km gravel championship. A late-evening flight from northern Italy to the Dutch Limburg isn\u2019t so great, either.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Lombardy in the legs, you can\u2019t be the top favorite for gravel worlds the next day,\u201d Bogaerts admitted.<\/p>\n Still, fatigue shouldn\u2019t be enough for anybody to rule Pidcock out of Sunday\u2019s UCI worlds.<\/p>\n The big beasts of U.S. gravel are staying home<\/a>. The startlist looks like a rogue pick \u2018n\u2019 mix<\/a> from all disciplines.<\/p>\n Pidcock\u2019s off-road panache alone could be enough to land him into rainbows in a third off-road discipline [he already has CX and MTB titles \u2013 ed].<\/p>\n \u201cGravel worlds is something I\u2019m really looking forward to,\u201d Pidcock said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy main focus is of course on Il Lombardia, but I\u2019ll stay sharp for an extra day,\u201d he warned. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to doing well in the gravel race.\u201d<\/p>\n Cyclocross sacrificed for spring classics Make the most of off-road Pidcock on Sunday.<\/p>\n Coach Bogaerts told Sporza he\u2019s not likely to indulge much of his first-love, cyclocross, for the second winter in a row. Classics are becoming an increased priority for Pidcock now that he leads \u201cProject Q.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is very little chance that Tom will race this winter, but it cannot be ruled out,\u201d Bogaerts said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just have to make sure Tom has enough rest and build-up periods. Tom wants to compete and win wherever he starts, and good preparation is crucial for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Pidcock\u2019s multi-discipline rivals Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert have both suggested they will return to the mud this winter for limited CX schedules.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping the prospect of a clash with the two OG \u201ckings of cyclocross\u201d will tempt the ever-hungry Pidcock out of his off-season.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cyclocross might be off the menu this winter, but Pidcock wants everything else he can get: ‘Tom wants…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,54263,82,99383,78014,62999,99384,54267],"class_list":["post-202078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-parent_category-road","tag-sports","tag-tag-il-lombardia","tag-tag-q36-5-pro-cycling","tag-tag-tom-pidcock","tag-tag-uci-gravel-world-championships","tag-type-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Pidcock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2203991663.jpg\"\/)
Pidcock should be a favorite for the UCI gravel worlds \u2013 unless he\u2019s cooked from Lombardia. (Photo: Fabio Ferrari \u2013 Pool\/Getty Images )<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-1877835169.jpg\"\/)
Picock hasn\u2019t raced \u2018cross since January 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/p>\n